Bullied?

unamused

In 2008 I was headhunted to go back to a company that I worked for some years ago to manager one of their department after four months of talks I signed contact to begin at the start of 2009.

After a couple of months there was one particular incident a sales rep requested something to be done by my department I was not aware of the request and it was never communicated to me in anyway - the request was not done and the sales rep ended up saying that they had communicated the request to me and that i had failed to do what was asked, I was then reported to their manager who in turn rang me and gave me a tongue lashing, the sales rep then came up to my office knee-led down beside me and shouted in my face which I found very intimidating at this point i felt i had no other option but to report this matter to the managing director which i did via email

just to be clear there was two other ppl in the room when this happened one was sitting directly across from me and one was sitting at the far end of the room behind a screen wall, there where also a handful of ppl downstairs

when the md was back in the office he called me down to discuss this matter i was told that the person sitting directly across from me and the sales rep both denied the incident had happened and that i was lying about the incident and needed to seriously consider my role within the company.

I did ask the MD to specify what my actual role was in the company as I felt i had signed a contract for one particular role and not for PA to the sales reps he told me that whatever the sales reps asked had to come first tbh i couldnt reply i was just dumbfounded and in shock and walked out of his office

following month i lost a member of staff from my department (there was only four ppl in my department taking care of five companies- the three left where myself - fully qualified to do the job, an office junior who couldnt even attach an object to an email and another person who could only make phone calls) as I was now training the junior, doing my jobs, PA to sales reps, doing the persons job who was let go and doing all other aspects of the person who could only make phone calls i

the general manager kept requesting payment to companies without giving me invoices and for amounts that didnt match our system when i pointed this out and refused to make these payment I was told to get down to the board room NOW - this I refused and so was reported to the MD again and again told to come down to his office which I did and explained that I was not paying ppl monies that where not owed - again the MD sided with the other person and i was told i was being difficult :eek:

rumours started around the company that i was difficult and from that moment on various ppl started to have a go i spoke to the MD who told me to stop complaining and as for the work load if i wasnt coping that i had to do unpaid overtime - at the time i was doing unpaid overtime and it didnt matter how much i did there was just too much work for one person so i told him i wasnt doing anymore over time as it was now effecting my whole existence ( i wasnt sleeping more that two/three hours a night and couldnt eat with worry and stress ) I was then told that if i didnt do the overtime and catch up then i was leaving the md with no other option??? other that what i asked, no reply and was told to think about it over the weekend

monday came and i was called back to office and asked what my decision was again i said that i didnt have a problem doing my job but had an issue doing all the other roles that were not part of my original agreement and as i was doing this additional work which i had been told was now my priority my original role was falling behind and doing unpaid overtime was still not an option that these other roles had to be distributed to some where else

as you can imagine he was not impressed and i was put on three months probation i was also told that if i spoke back to anyone within these three months my employment would be terminated immediately

the following week went to doctors who signed me off sick - when i was due to be back in work MD didnt believe i was sick so sent me to his doctor who agreed with mine- MD not impressed and sent me to his HR company the girl there listened then went back to the MD with what I said he denied any of the above happened and was told by the HR girl to basically cop myself on and go back to work at this stage i was a nervous wreck and doubting my own sanity

I have since found out that the other person who was in the room for the first incident but denied it happened did so because the sales rep had F***ed up with a client and was worried about their own job - as far as im concerned this is no excuse
also the md lived in the same area as me and the GM passed through it on his way to and from work so i was terrified to leave my house at certain time in case i bumped into one of them so i ended up having to move due to this and due to the fact i couldnt afford my rent anymore being on illness benefit, i am also up to my eye balls in debt with bank treating to take me to court every week and i have no idea what to do

does anyone think i have a case for bullying? and if so how do i go about proving it if its their word against mine? should i just hand my notice in and let them away with it i know the recession has hit companies hard but this is a ridicules way to treat ppl
any suggestions as to my rights or what to do i had the breakdown after only eight months with them and feel sick that i left a very good friendly company to go to this job and get treated like this:(


sorry for such a long post

MagicMarker

I gave up trying to read it after 5 lines, you really need to break it up a bit and add paragraphs.

LegacyUser

Help us to help you OP

People going into this forum are happy to help but I struggled to read that and I'm not alone

Denimgirl

unamused wrote: »

In 2008 I was headhunted to go back to a company that I worked for some years ago to manager one of their department after four months of talks I signed contact to begin at the start of 2009.

After a couple of months there was one particular incident a sales rep requested something to be done by my department I was not aware of the request and it was never communicated to me in anyway - the request was not done and the sales rep ended up saying that they had communicated the request to me and that i had failed to do what was asked, I was then reported to their manager who in turn rang me and gave me a tongue lashing, the sales rep then came up to my office knee-led down beside me and shouted in my face which I found very intimidating at this point i felt i had no other option but to report this matter to the managing director which i did via email

just to be clear there was two other ppl in the room when this happened one was sitting directly across from me and one was sitting at the far end of the room behind a screen wall, there where also a handful of ppl downstairs

when the md was back in the office he called me down to discuss this matter i was told that the person sitting directly across from me and the sales rep both denied the incident had happened and that i was lying about the incident and needed to seriously consider my role within the company.

I did ask the MD to specify what my actual role was in the company as I felt i had signed a contract for one particular role and not for PA to the sales reps he told me that whatever the sales reps asked had to come first tbh i couldnt reply i was just dumbfounded and in shock and walked out of his office

following month i lost a member of staff from my department (there was only four ppl in my department taking care of five companies- the three left where myself - fully qualified to do the job, an office junior who couldnt even attach an object to an email and another person who could only make phone calls) as I was now training the junior, doing my jobs, PA to sales reps, doing the persons job who was let go and doing all other aspects of the person who could only make phone calls i

the general manager kept requesting payment to companies without giving me invoices and for amounts that didnt match our system when i pointed this out and refused to make these payment I was told to get down to the board room NOW - this I refused and so was reported to the MD again and again told to come down to his office which I did and explained that I was not paying ppl monies that where not owed - again the MD sided with the other person and i was told i was being difficult :eek:

rumours started around the company that i was difficult and from that moment on various ppl started to have a go i spoke to the MD who told me to stop complaining and as for the work load if i wasnt coping that i had to do unpaid overtime - at the time i was doing unpaid overtime and it didnt matter how much i did there was just too much work for one person so i told him i wasnt doing anymore over time as it was now effecting my whole existence ( i wasnt sleeping more that two/three hours a night and couldnt eat with worry and stress ) I was then told that if i didnt do the overtime and catch up then i was leaving the md with no other option??? other that what i asked, no reply and was told to think about it over the weekend

monday came and i was called back to office and asked what my decision was again i said that i didnt have a problem doing my job but had an issue doing all the other roles that were not part of my original agreement and as i was doing this additional work which i had been told was now my priority my original role was falling behind and doing unpaid overtime was still not an option that these other roles had to be distributed to some where else

as you can imagine he was not impressed and i was put on three months probation i was also told that if i spoke back to anyone within these three months my employment would be terminated immediately

the following week went to doctors who signed me off sick - when i was due to be back in work MD didnt believe i was sick so sent me to his doctor who agreed with mine- MD not impressed and sent me to his HR company the girl there listened then went back to the MD with what I said he denied any of the above happened and was told by the HR girl to basically cop myself on and go back to work at this stage i was a nervous wreck and doubting my own sanity

I have since found out that the other person who was in the room for the first incident but denied it happened did so because the sales rep had F***ed up with a client and was worried about their own job - as far as im concerned this is no excuse
also the md lived in the same area as me and the GM passed through it on his way to and from work so i was terrified to leave my house at certain time in case i bumped into one of them so i ended up having to move due to this and due to the fact i couldnt afford my rent anymore being on illness benefit, i am also up to my eye balls in debt with bank treating to take me to court every week and i have no idea what to do

does anyone think i have a case for bullying? and if so how do i go about proving it if its their word against mine? should i just hand my notice in and let them away with it i know the recession has hit companies hard but this is a ridicules way to treat ppl
any suggestions as to my rights or what to do i had the breakdown after only eight months with them and feel sick that i left a very good friendly company to go to this job and get treated like this:(


sorry for such a long post

I;m so sorry you going through all this,I read all your post and once i heard the sales rep was on at you i thought he was trying to put blame on you coz thats what sales reps do when they are in the sh&t themselves blame the admins.what is your title in there?You are being bullied!
I was going through the exact same thing as you with a very 2 faced sales rep pretending to be my friend and bad mouthing me behind my back to managers the sales guy was doing nothing and actually ran the dept down to the ground we're all out of work coz of him.but i was lucky coz the management was on my side when i had a list of things he was'nt doing and thank God they believed the truth.call employment rights 1890 808090 and tell them your story.i think you should leave as your life is too precious to be going through this,the stress is making you ill and nobody is worth that i'd rather live ina bedsit and be healthy and stress free til i got my life together than put up with this nightmare!you will get through this.feel free to pm me if you like i know what your going through,but you will getthrough this.xx

MagicMarker

I think first and foremost you should seek legal advice. Write everything down in as much detail as possible. You may have a case for constructive dismissal but it will be hard to prove, the fact that you've been ill may actually work in your favour, especially if your doctor would confirm that it's stress related.

As for the job, leave, don't go back. Just call them and say you quit. Yes you won't be earning a wage but your health is much more important.

LegacyUser

I was in a similar situation where the MD took a dislike to me and made my life hell. Because all the other staff were trying to keep in his good books they sided with him all the time. I was made to feel that I was incompetent and that I was a horrible person who couldnt get on with the rest of the staff. This was the total opposite of how I was in every other job I had been in up to that point and since then, but you start to believe it when you are in that situation every day.

I eventually left because my health was really suffering and it was the best thing I ever did. I'm in a much lower paid basic job now but I've got my self worth & sanity back again after what was an intolerable work situation. I know jobs are hard to come by but you need to get out before they wear you down completely. Your health is much more important than a job like that. Get legal advice asap. If you leave it may be counted as constructive dismissal and you could get compensation from your employers but you need to have all your facts in order first. Best of luck.

unamused

so i have a meeting with a solicitor in the morning really nervous but really want to show this company they cant treat ppl like this
i am still off on illness benefit and refuse to quit cause i feel that gives them the right to hire someone on a permanent basis for my job and would make their life easier which i am not going to do
and after all they head hunted me they didnt stop until i said i'd take the job which was to manage their accounts department they have totally ruined by love of accounts i know that sounds weird but i like the was its either right or wrong and no grey areas i like the structure in it as my personal life is not so black and white